


the legend of reylo

by klutzybriefing



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angry Kylo Ren, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Badass Rey, Best angst, Dungeons and Bosses and Quest Items--oh my, F/M, Fun angst, Fun in the meantime, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Kind of medieval, Kylo Ren Has Issues, Kylo Ren is Not Nice, Mostly fantasy, N64 AU, Obsessive Kylo Ren, Rey Needs A Hug, Reylo - Freeform, Slow Burn Rey/Kylo Ren, Spoiler Alert: Reylo is Endgame, This will be long, Unabashed Nintendo references, Video Game AU, Video Game Tropes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:29:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21652339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klutzybriefing/pseuds/klutzybriefing
Summary: Recent college graduate Rey is out of work, out of luck, and out of money.So she does what any jobless humanities graduate would: busts out her dad’s old N64 and attempts to lose herself to nostalgia.But what happens when she stumbles upon an old, unmarked cartridge and finds herself quite literally transported to a universe that’s missing its protagonist?She’s only got three shots to get this right, if she ever wants to make it back to her reality—or, somewhat less importantly, if she doesn’t want to literally die. Which wouldreallysuck, since she’s finally landed a date with her incredibly hot (albeit strange and intense) neighbor and would very much like to make it.She meets several key SW figures (tiny ch 1-3 spoiler: Finn, Poe, Rose, Leia and Han) along the way, including the ~~Big Masked Baddie Daddie~~ himself, Kylo Ren (who knows a liiiittle bit too much about her life outside of this game universe for comfort).Angst. Very slow burn. Some popular and thinly veiled game references sprinkled in like… sprinkles. Other character development. Yes, there will eventually be smutANOTHER FIC CONCEPT NO ONE ASKED FORI DID IT ANYWAY :)
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Leia Organa/Han Solo, Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 24
Kudos: 38





	1. Chapter 1

Rey’s eyes fluttered open, taking in a titillating view of her apartment’s popcorn ceiling in the process. She must have fallen asleep in the living room again. There was an empty bottle of wine tucked firmly under her arm, and her head absolutely, positively ached. Gone was the taste of sickly sweet port wine in her mouth. She found her throat was plagued with the taste of straight up alcohol, a little bit of bile, and a lot of her usual morning breath now. 

_Fuck._

She stretched out and immediately winced at the way her greasy tresses fell down her shoulders. The months of unemployment following her graduation had been her downfall. She’d gone to countless interviews, followed up countless leads, and prepped and primed her resume until it could sparkle and shine no more. 

But the job market was just… bad. She was certifiably unemployable, and now depression was budding around her like fungus to rotting flesh. 

“Okay, stop being dramatic,” she chuckled. “Nothing a shower can’t fix. Right, Vinny?” 

Vinny the Venus Flytrap could not be reached for comment. He was only a plant, after all; a gift from Ben. At first she thought it was a weird joke, but now that her neighbor was being quieter and not vacuuming after 10pm on weeknights, she accepted it for what it was:

A peace offering. A “please-don’t-pound-on-my-walls-and-cuss-at-me-through-my-door-anymore-you-wild-crazy-insane-unemployed-animal” kind of gift.

She was busy toweling her freshly-washed hair when she heard a knock at the door, which surprised her. 

She no longer had friends in this city; they’d all left after college, or landed their dream jobs, or moved back in with their parents. She figured it must be maintenance or her creepy landlord, so she yelled a quick “gimme a sec!” and searched for her pajamas from the night before. 

She brought the t-shirt up to her nose and smelled it. No—these clothes reeked of her own garbage lifestyle, and would not do. 

“Uh..give me another second!” She yelled, choosing to ignore the impatient tapping from outside. 

She ran into her closet and pulled on a white camisole and a laughably large pair of sweatpants, then raced to the door at a speed that brought a faint hint of sweat to her brow.

_Okay. No more drinking. We’re hitting the gym, Rey._

When she threw the door open, she was surprised to see Ben there, in all his awkward glory. 

He was just a _little_ bit too tall and took up _entirely_ too much space with his wide frame. There was something almost otherworldly about the way his face was laid out. Big, brown, chocolatey eyes, raven-colored hair, a prominent nose, plush lips, and angular cheekbones and features that should have never worked together. 

But they did. He didn’t look born, he looked _designed_. That was the first thing she’d noticed the first time she’d run into him; that she couldn’t have designed a more perfectly flawed human being if she’d tried. 

“Ben!” Rey steeled her nerves and grounded her heels into the carpet behind her, like she was preparing for a potential screaming match. Had she been dry heaving too loud? “Er... can I help you?” 

He didn’t meet her gaze immediately. Instead, he looked over her shoulder, taking in the utter mess that was her living room. 

In her defense, she never had anyone over, and was perfectly content living in relative filth. 

He finally cleared his throat and spoke. “You kept the plant?” 

She arched an eyebrow. “Yeah. I named him Vinny.” 

“Why would you do that?” 

“Uh… Vinny the Venus Flytrap. I don’t know, sounded cooler in my head.” Rey blanched for a moment. “Uh—what’s up, neighbor man?” 

_Maker._ This guy was always awkward as absolute hell, like he’d never had a conversation with a real human being.

“I would like to escort you to dinner. A pub, perhaps, or even a…” He scratched his head and paused for an uncomfortably long amount of time. “Er, I’d like to purchase mead for us. Dancing. Merriment. That sort of thing.” 

“You mean like Medieval Times? That jousty role-play restaurant?” _Shit._ He seemed to really love that high fantasy stuff. 

He nodded vigorously. “Sure. That works. I will pick you up at half past seven o’clock, tomorrow.” 

“Uh… should I consider this a date? Or just a friendly outing?”

She knew she was being forward, but she couldn’t help herself. She’d been crushing on this dork for entirely too long, even though he kind of put her on edge sometimes. 

“Mmm,” Ben hummed thoughtfully. “When you say ‘date,’ are you referring to courtship?” 

Rey nodded, despite the strange phrasing. 

Beautiful Ben wasn’t being creepy. He was probably just getting into the Medieval Times spirit or something.

“Then yes. It is a date.” 

Rey wanted to squeal. Or die. Or just flatten herself into the couch cushions until she became one herself. She felt a blush spread across her cheeks, and a warmth in her chest that she hadn’t experienced in an incredibly long time. Since she graduated, at least. 

“I’m excited,” she smiled, tucking a strand of wet hair behind her ear. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought of you in that way for quite some time.” 

“Nonsense. We were mutually vexed by each other until…Vinny.” He nodded once, curtly, motioning to the plant on her coffee table. “In the meantime, please find a leisure activity that does not require you to heave so unceremoniously into our shared wall. Might I suggest a video game?” 

Well, shit. Now she was embarrassed. _Abort mission, Rey. Shut the door. _

“Uh…I’ll think about it, Ben. I’ll see you tomorrow?” 

He acted like he didn’t hear her. “I myself enjoy playing the N64.” 

Hmm…her father had left her one of those ancient systems. She wondered briefly if it was even compatible with her television set. It would be a good way to blow off some steam, reflect back on the days when her parents were still breathing and she had legitimate prospects for the future. 

“Oh. I think I have one of those…” she trailed off. She was thinking about her parents now, and that was an uncomfortable rabbit hole.

Yes, she’d honor her father’s memory by playing his old video games and not drinking for one night. “Yeah, I’ll…do that. If you wanna play Mario Kart sometime—“

He held up his hand to stop her. 

“I don’t do two-player. Too competitive. But I hope indulging in this activity alone brings you…” He paused, again, for an uncomfortable amount of time. “…great enjoyment, Rey. I’ll see you tomorrow night. Good luck.” 

Was he smirking? Rey couldn’t tell, he’d stepped away from the door too quickly to really parse his facial expression. She stepped out behind him and waved. 

“See you! Bye, Ben!” _You handsome fucking weirdo._

— 

Her television set was, shockingly, still compatible with the wires on her father’s old N64. 

Not that it mattered; she couldn’t really find any of the games anyway. There was only one cartridge, and it was just…blank. A silver piece of plastic that probably didn’t even work anymore. And if it wasn’t Mario Kart, she really wasn’t interested. 

She was _positive_ that she’d kept all of her dad’s keepsakes well preserved during her most recent move. The loss was upsetting, but her closet took the brunt of the pain, becoming disheveled and unorganized in the wake of her relentless searching. 

Her gaze kept going towards the blank cartridge beside the system. She didn’t remember having one of those, and was sure she’d catalogued everything she’d been left…somewhere. She would have remembered, labeled, or thrown away a blank cartridge, no doubt. 

Maybe it was new. 

She gripped it in her fingers and studied the ridges inside. They seemed normal, not broken or jagged enough to destroy the system completely. 

She blew into it, expecting dust to fly everywhere. But it didn’t. Honestly, it looked brand new for an item that was either as old or older than herself. 

Rey shrugged and shoved it into the system. She didn’t know why she cared so much—all she had to do to figure out this _grand mystery_ was flip a switch. No need to reflect on it too much. The system buzzed for a minute before it came to life, but the screen was completely black. 

She sighed. _So much for a night of nostalgia and sobriety_, she thought, making her way to the fridge to find _some_ sort of alcohol. 

When she came back with half a wine bottle in hand, though, there was text on the screen. Text she couldn’t quite make out from this great a distance. 

“Fuck this aspect ratio,” she grumbled aloud. She squinted for a second before depositing her wine on the coffee table—right next to her dear Vinny—and approached the screen to read it more easily. 

Well, it certainly wasn’t an English title. 

“It…onnum…art'tha—makkunnilla?…ninnaḷ—vivarttanam…ceytatil…” 

She sighed. The effort of pronunciation was really starting to get to her at the end. 

“Ks…amik…”

“Kanam?” 

As soon as the last syllable came out, Rey felt herself lurch forward with the destructive force of a black hole. 

Her brief flutter of consciousness braced itself for everything to go black. But no. 

Her vision became staticky, like a channel out of range, and then she felt herself suddenly falling backwards. 

_The fuck?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> one question answered, two questions created

Rey came to after what felt like days of falling. 

When she opened her eyes, she was still fighting static at the corners of her vision. Everything was disorienting and bright, and Rey swore that she could make out not just one but two suns beating down on her face. 

_Am I dreaming?_

Rey squinted and propped herself up on her elbows, realizing she was surrounded on either side by vast fields of green. There was a single tree, far off in the distance, which looked to be the only source of shade or shelter that this dream was going to give her. She decided that was where she was going to go first. 

She straightened her spine and attempted to stretch out, but a sharp pain in her neck prevented her from getting all of her little kinks out. 

_Are dreams supposed to hurt like this?_

Eventually she stood all the way up and began trudging along. She noticed mountains on either side of her, much further out than the tree. Too distant for a day’s trek, at least. It would take at least a week to reach them, and she was certain she wouldn’t be dreaming for that long. 

She realized the tree was unfathomably large as she approached. It was a sturdy oak, like the ones outside of her apartment window, though it seemed otherworldly compared to those. Too full, and the leaves seemed too flawless for the season. 

Not natural, she decided. _Designed._

She was out of breath when she finally reached her destination and immediately slumped back against the wide trunk. She couldn’t recall being so winded in a dream before, but it was only a matter of time before her typical super-speed or flying powers kicked in, and she’d be able to really explore the world her brain had cooked up for her. 

For now, she was content to lull herself back to sleep to the sound of wind in the branches. 

Reprieve didn’t last long, though. She heard an aggressive series of beeps as she hit the precipice of sleep. 

“_What_?” She hissed. Her eyes flew open, and she realized she was angry. “Can’t a lady get some shut eye in her own dream?” 

“This is no dream,” the beeps seemed to say. “Our hero has disappeared, and now only you can save this land.” 

She stared down at the source of the noises, raising an eyebrow in the process. There were two orbs stacked on top of one another, and whatever it was…it was gyroscopically stable, whirling around the tree like that was the most fun its ever had. 

“I’ve gone insane. Lost it completely.” Rey laughed to herself. “Who are you?” 

The _thing_ stopped whirring. “I am BB-8, your guide to all things Reylonia. I would usually guide Master Luke, but he is no longer. Evil has taken root in his absence.”

“Cool shit,” Rey grumbled. She sat up and started dusting off the front of her sweatpants, suddenly painfully aware that she wasn’t even wearing a bra. She tried to imagine one into existence, but it wouldn’t happen. “This has been fun and all, but I’m gonna wake myself up now.” 

The droid chirped at her nonsensically while she pinched herself. Again, and again, and again. It hurt like hell, but it wasn’t working. She wasn’t waking up. 

“We will first travel to the city of Coruscant,” BB-8 began, suddenly interested in making sense again. “And meet with Queen Leia to see if she has any clues about what’s going on. From there, we will likely embark on our first quest.” 

“How exciting.” 

Rey frowned. A horrible anxiety was starting to build in her chest. Everything seemed so dreadfully real, moreso than any lucid dream she’d ever had. 

Flashes of memory flooded her brain. Ben had urged her to play video games, and for whatever reason, she couldn’t help but obey. She was standing in front of the TV, muttering some strange romanized language… and then this. Perhaps she’d passed out and hit her head on the coffee table? In that case, she was in a coma, not a dream. 

“We will begin traveling now. Coruscant is a mere 10 kilometers from this place.” 

“Only ten?” Rey cocked her head to the side, scanning her surroundings with renewed vigor. “How? There’s nothing here for hundreds of kilometers.” 

“An illusion, is all. This is where you’d typically begin, but there are no relics to search for anymore, and no instructions for a tutorial. Coruscant is nestled in a valley to the north.” 

Rey sighed, completely disinterested in following the strings of her confusing subconscious. If she was knocked out cold, she’d be stuck in this strange purgatory for a while. She’d have to play along.

It was better than falling down the staticky hole again, anyway. 

The longer Rey walked and BB-8 whirred, the more she felt like she was being followed. Stalked, even. Rey whipped her head around to check out her surroundings, but they were just as barren as before. 

“That’s weird,” she murmured, turning around in time to watch herself walk straight into a tall, black wall. 

“What’s weird?” The wall boomed down at her. 

She shook her head and looked up. The wall was actually a person in a mask, one that gave her an absolutely dreadful feeling. He seemed to have a foot on her height, at least, and was decked out in black from head to toe. There was a blood red sword on his waist, and he was even wearing a fucking cape. 

Rey jumped back and held her arms up. “No, no, no! Not a fucking nightmare. Just let me walk around with the robot until I wake up.” 

“This is no dream.” The masked man cocked his head to the side. Even from behind the mask, she could tell he was taking in her form. It made her cheeks tingle. “And there’s no need to be afraid of me—yet. I’ve actually come to do you a favor.” 

Rey didn’t have anything to say in response. She just stood there, hands shaking until the man continued. 

“You have a long journey ahead of you, Rey. Things will become clearer…soon. Listen to what BB-8 says, and do your best to avoid dying.” 

Her breath hitched. 

“Dying?!” The word came out like a pained squeak. 

“You get three chances, Rey. Three chances to vanquish the evil at the end of the game. Typically you’d start again from the beginning, but in your case…” He held up a gloved finger and traced it horizontally across her throat. 

The contact made her shiver. 

“So yes. Dying,” he nodded. “Here, and in what you believe is real life. I would recommend against that.” 

Rey couldn’t do anything but blink. 

“You’ll come across people that wish to join you. Let them. Always remember that it would be better that their lives are sacrificed for yours, because they _will_ come back. They’ll have no memory of the adventure you’ve taken, but they will come back. They are expendable; an endless resource. You are not—you have three deaths, and that’s it. Do you understand, Rey?” 

Rey nodded meekly. The more he spoke, the more it felt like she was trapped in an alternate reality; a very, very real one with very, very real stakes. She looked behind him to see BB-8 completely motionless in the grass. He didn’t seem dead, but he did seem off. Literally. 

“Will you join me?” Rey returned her gaze to the masked man and asked tentatively. “Will you help me?” 

“No.” He reached his gloved hand out to cup her cheek, almost reverently. “The next time you see me, circumstances will be different. Just remember that I will not kill you. I cannot say the same for my fellow Knights.” 

“Jeeeesus,” Rey sighed. She subconsciously leaned into the hand on her cheek. It smelled like leather and campfires. “How am I supposed to defend myself against a bunch of knights?” 

“It’s more appropriate to say ‘Maker’ here,” the masked man nodded again. He slid his thumb across her cheekbone, almost reverently. Those mannerisms reminded her of someone…everything he did reminded her of someone, something from her real life. She just couldn’t put her finger on it. “The Queen will outfit you in armor. And…proper clothing to go under it.”

Rey’s mouth froze. She shot her gaze down and realized that she was standing in the middle of a grassland, with a nearly seven foot tall _being_ in front of her, touching her and telling her not to die and that his friends would gladly slaughter her, all the while outfitted in pajamas that were hardly fit to check the mail in. 

She swallowed back her trepidations and tried to focus on the important questions. “Why me? Why would anyone want to kill me, much less outfit me in anything?” 

“You’re the protagonist in this story now.” 

“That doesn’t tell me anything.” 

“It tells you everything.” He chuckled behind his mask. “My absence will be noted soon, so I’ll be taking my leave.” 

“Don’t go,” Rey whispered. She was fighting tears, he could probably tell. This was too overwhelming, be it a dream or a coma or an alternate universe. She just wanted to be back in her living room, drinking wine and planning her date tomorrow. 

His hand dropped from her cheek to her shoulder and he gave it a firm squeeze. “This was the only way, Rey. I hope you can forgive me.” 

Before she could open her mouth in protest, he disappeared. The grass didn’t even have indentations from his boots.

BB-8 started whirring again, moving at the same pace as before in the same direction. It was as if nothing had even happened.


	3. Chapter 3

Coruscant was bigger than Rey expected.

It was a sprawling and colorful metropolis, with buildings and people in every direction. There were merchants lined in stalls on either side of the entrance, selling foods as mundane as apples to bridles sewn with threaded gold. She wanted to take a moment to breathe the fast-paced atmosphere in, but BB-8 was whirring quickly before her, and the last thing she wanted to do was get lost. 

Unless that meant the strange masked creep would show up again. Honestly, that’s what she really wanted. He had answers, she had questions, and it was _her_ dream or alternate reality or coma or whatever the fuck. She should have been able to make him appear again if she wanted to. 

But no matter how hard she willed it, he never appeared, and she continued walking aimlessly behind BB-8 until a fevered conversation piqued her interest. 

“…and the Knights of Ren will surely strike soon. This peace, it’s a falsehood—“

“That bastard Kylo will kill in Coruscant again, mark my words. Sooner than we expect. The Queen has been nothing short of idle—” 

“There are rumors whispered in the barracks, that Kylo Ren is the fallen prince—“ 

“Hogwash; Kylo Ren was born of the darkness itself!” 

Rey broke herself out of her daze and approached the source. There were two men, _guards_, whispering loudly to one another in a dark corner. They were both equally beautiful, with the same startling perfection that Rey noticed in Ben. _Designed._

“Did you say something about knights?” She asked as she approached, working her bottom lip into her mouth anxiously. 

The two men just blinked at her. Both of them were blushing and stammering, and she couldn’t tell if she’d caught them doing something wrong or if women just weren’t supposed to speak in this reality. 

“Madam, I apologize, but it is uncouth to respond to someone so scantily clad,” the darker of the two managed. They were the same height and both had chocolate eyes and black hair, set apart only by skin tone. Rey briefly wondered if they could be related, they were so disarmingly similar. 

“Finn!” The other one managed, still blushing. “She’s a tourist, I’m sure—“ 

“I don’t know what the fuck I am,” Rey managed. She raised up her hands in defense when they became even more scandalized. 

“Poe, say something!” 

The one called Poe cleared his throat. “My lady—if I may even call you that, after using such language in front of the castle guard... We are in the midst of a private conversation.” 

“What, ladies can’t say fuck here?” Rey’s nose scrunched up in defiance. “Well, fuck that. I’ll ask someone else about the elusive knights that want to kill me.” 

“Kill you? Ma’am, are you quite alright?” Finn dropped his defensive stance and frowned at Rey, then Poe. 

Poe shrugged, eager to let the girl walk away so they could continue gossiping. 

“I’m having the worst day of my life, dude. I woke up in the middle of a fucking grassland and then some tall guy in a mask told me that if I die three times I’m dead forever.” She chuckled to herself and began violently pinching at her arm for the second time that morning. “I just want to wake up. I don’t want to follow this stupid droid around anymore.” 

BB-8 beeped sadly behind her. 

“Uh huh…” Finn peeked over her shoulder, taking the robot in with interest. 

“What?” Rey snapped. She crossed her arms over her chest, realizing that she still had no bra on and the chilly breeze of the city had made her nipples quite prominent. No wonder these guys were ogling at her so strangely. She wanted to be embarrassed, but she was far too frustrated and hungry for answers then to be bashful. 

Poe shrugged again, hardly even feigning the slightest interest in the conversation. “Nothing. You just sound kind of hysterical.” 

Rey let out an otherworldly groan and connected her left hook to Poe’s cheek without hesitation. 

“You sexist pig!” She hissed, connecting her right hook to his other cheek this time. 

The other man, Finn, wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her away from Poe’s slumped form before she could kick into his chest. 

“Fuck!” Poe grunted, tapping his fingers desperately against the purplish swelling that had already started taking over his cheekbones. “What the fuck, you crazy bitch!” 

Rey struggled against Finn’s vice grip around her waist, wiggling violently so she might continue her assault on Poe’s face. 

“Ma’am, please calm down,” Finn breathed against her hair. “I understand, he’s infuriating, but you have to calm down. I don’t want to arrest you.” 

It took ten or fifteen seconds, but Rey finally became docile again. Finn let go of her when he felt he could trust her and knelt down next to Poe, who was still tapping furiously against his face. 

“Take me to see the queen!” Rey demanded, stomping her foot. “I want to get through this and wake up from this fucking nightmare so I can go on my date tomorrow. You’re not going to look at me like a poor hysterical woman anymore, you’re going to do what I say or I’m going to break _both_ of your faces!” 

“Believe me, you’ll have an audience with the queen in no time if you continue your assault against the Royal Guard!” Poe yelled back, but his words were empty. He was too busy wincing at the feeling of his fingertips on his face to frighten her. 

“I need to see her _now._” 

“Okay, let’s just talk this through. It’s…hard to get an audience, just like that,” Finn swallowed and held up his hands in surrender. “People wait for months for these things. _Why_ do you need to see the queen so urgently?” 

“Because the big masked guy in all black told me his friends wanted to kill me, and now I need armor, and she’s supposed to give me armor.” 

“Charming,” Poe grunted while he stood up, leaning his back against the wall. “You still sound hysterical.” 

Rey lunged at him again, and then there were different arms wrapped around her waist to pull her back. Stronger, longer arms. And whoever owned them made Finn and Poe extremely afraid. 

“She’s telling the truth,” a familiar, inhuman voice echoed behind her. She jerked her head around and glared up at the masked stranger that had abandoned her before. 

“K-kylo Ren,” Finn sputtered, lips trembling. Poe was clutching the wall behind him, but for some reason, no one else was aware of or interested in what was going on in the corner. 

“She needs to see the queen. I’d take her myself, but the untrained fools Leia calls soldiers would undoubtedly attack, and then I’d have to massacre them.” 

Kylo loosened his grip when he finished speaking, which was a mistake. Rey immediately turned around and started hurling her fists into his chest. 

“Don’t touch me!” She squealed. 

Despite the mask concealing his true response, everyone in the group could tell that Kylo was taken aback. Even BB-8 chirped nervously at the ordeal. 

“You can’t just tell me your friends are going to kill me and then _disappear_!” She frowned, fists hitting less enthusiastically when she realized that whatever he was wearing under that black get-up was hard as rock. It hurt her more to hit him, and she dropped her battered fists to her sides indignantly. 

“…I apologize,” Kylo sputtered. He stepped back from Rey like he’d been thoroughly chastised, and Poe and Finn stared on with wide eyes. 

“Are you following me?!”

Kylo shook his head vehemently. “No! Just—I just wanted to make sure you got here safely!” 

“Then _why didn’t you escort me here_!” Rey stomped towards him angrily. 

“It would have jeopardized your safety.” Kylo fixed his mask’s steely gaze towards the two guards. “Take her. Tell Leia that the fate of her precious Ben depends on helping this girl.” 

“Ben?” Rey frowned. “Ben Solo? He isn’t wrapped up in this, too, is he?” 

Rey didn’t get her answer. Kylo stepped back into the crowd and did his usual disappearing act, leaving her alone with two incredulous guards. 

“What the _fuck_,” Finn and Poe muttered in unison. Rey furrowed her eyebrows, too distracted now by the frustration that this “Kylo” always seemed to leave in his wake to care about Finn or Poe. 

“H-how?” Finn asked, blinking. “Do you know who that is? What he’s _done_? And you just…attacked him!” 

“I know that he’s a pain in my ass,” Rey groaned. “Can we please go before another one shows up and kills me?” 

“Yes. Let’s…uh. Let’s go,” Poe nodded. 

He held out his arm so Rey could take it, and she crossed hers in response. As if she’d ever touch this asshole. 

“I am perfectly capable of walking alone,” she scowled, and then did just that. 

— 

Rey’s reception at the castle was much more pleasant. 

Leia was short for such a formidable queen, standing around 5’0 even. Rey was of average height, but still felt like a towering giant as they took afternoon tea together. Leia had insisted that Finn, Poe and her husband, King Han, leave them be while Rey discussed the events leading up to Coruscant. 

“Well, you’re clearly not of this world,” the queen nodded, once Rey had finally finished. Leia’s tea had long gone cold, but she didn’t mind. “I’ve heard of people leaving our world, but never entering. That was some strong magic.” 

“Well, what’s the reason for it?” Rey sighed, leaning back into her lounging chair. 

“It sounds like Snoke’s most trusted Knight is quite taken with you.” 

“Yeah, but _why_? He’d told me there was no other way, but I can't even fathom what the context is for that.” 

“Sometimes things don’t make sense, and you can’t force them to.” Leia shrugged. “All I know is that you’re here, and I can assure you—this place is quite real.”

“We used to have a protector in this world.” The Queen cleared her throat and sat up, straighter. “My son. A handsome prince and knight with natural skill and effortless potential. He’s long gone, now. And evil has begun to take root in his wake. Horrible, corrupting, all-consuming evil.” 

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Rey frowned, recalling a piece of conversation from earlier about a lost prince. That must have hurt. 

Leia shook her head. “I’m sorry for everyone’s loss. I’m especially sorry for Snoke’s gain.” 

“Who is Snoke?” 

“A wizard. A nasty one. The only one with enough power to banish someone from this world, and the only one foolish enough to banish someone into it.” It was Leia’s turn to frown now. “He’s probably the source of all your woes, which means you’re going to have to seek him out for answers. Or retribution. Up to you.” 

Rey sighed, shakily. “How do I get there?” 

“You’ll have to take out the Knights first,” Leia nodded. She started scribbling furiously on a napkin. “I’m sure Kylo will need to be vanquished as well, despite his apparent attachment to you. You’d agree, if you were from here, but I’ll spare you all of the murderous details.” 

“I’m supposed to kill…knights?” Rey tilted her head. 

Leia nodded, like it was surprising that Rey didn’t already guess that. 

“I’ll send Finn and Poe with you—to protect you, of course. And I’m sure you’ll meet other people who have been scorned by Snoke along the way. They’ll help too.”

Rey blanched. 

“B-but I don’t know how to fight.” 

Leia laughed a bit, and Rey was glad to see some happiness spread across the Queen’s features again. “You’ll figure it out. Poe and Finn can train you while you travel, and the Castle’s resources are yours to use as you please.” 

Leia made short work of the conversation after that, so short that Rey didn’t even get a chance to ask about Ben’s involvement in all of this. 

She was outfitted in "proper" travel clothes: a dress with a built-in corset that made her want to die, with flowy white sleeves and a long, red skirt, and she was also given armor to carry in her horse's bag. She was also given a sword (after a long discussion about the vastly superior guns of Rey's world), but there was no way Rey would ever feel comfortable enough to use it. She almost outright refused, but she just looked more dangerous with it hanging from her hips. And if she really, _really_ had to, she could at least pretend to know how to properly defend herself. 

She'd spend the night at the castle to get her bearings, and then her next destination would be nowhere, fast. 

Rey hoped it wouldn’t be long before her masked puppy started following her around again, if only to point her in the right direction. 

Maybe she’d fabricate a situation so dangerous he’d have no choice but to re-appear. She had questions, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> <3 <3 <3


End file.
